The voice of the "large ocean states" resonates through the COP23 Fijian presidency

22/11/2017 - Par Justine Guiny

Copyright : Justine Guiny

At the heart of the “Bonn” zone, hosting the different pavilions of the stakeholders at the Conference of Parties (COP), a spacious area is reserved for the colourful Fijian pavilion, ornamented with bamboo and straw roofs, with traditional cushions on the floor and mood lighting aimed at recreating the unique culture of this island state presiding over this COP23.

If the COP is technically hosted in Bonn, the seat of the UN Climate Change Secretariat, at the World Conference Centre, Fiji is in fact chairing the COP23 and is determined in highlighting to the international community its importance and pivotal role in what we can hear being called the “first island COP” (Hilda Heine – President of the Marshall Islands).

At the entrance of each of the two zones over which the COP23 extends, and at the opening of each event organized by Fiji, the Fijian welcome "Bula" greets us. In addition, the main negotiations site is called the "Bula Zone", recalling the characteristic Fijian footprint of this COP23.

This year, the Fiji presidency aims to make all parties involved in the Paris agreement concluded in 2015 accountable towards a concrete and ambitious national implementation process, through its now famous slogan "Further, Faster, Together". This presidency embodies the tangible example of global warming, which is already present, especially in the island states where it is now part of a new daily life. The Fijian Prime Minister and President of COP23, Frank Bainimarama, makes this year a point of honour to protect the currently most vulnerable states, which encompasses essentially the Pacific Islands, and more broadly the Small Island Developing States.

Co-chairing the United Nations Oceans Summit with Sweden, Fiji seized the opportunity of this COP23 to launch the Ocean Pathway Partnership (https://cop23.com.fj/the-ocean-pathway/ ), bringing together state and non-state actors around the major reaffirmation of the link between the ocean and climate change, a state of affairs recently underlined in the same year at the UN Ocean Conference through its Call for Action. This unique initiative engages stakeholders in international cooperation by inviting them to join existing activities and partnerships in ocean conservation and protection, including by promoting a concrete work program on these issues under the UNFCCC.

As a result of global warming, the oceans are under unprecedented pressure, including acidification, oxygen depletion, or the alarming pollution of marine waters, to name just a few examples (see article by Justine Guiny, "Protéger nos océans revient-il à lutter contre le réchauffement climatique ?"). These alarming changes, mostly due to the excess of CO2 in the atmosphere which is then absorbed by the oceans, directly affect people in island states who have been dependent for decades on the benefits of a resilient ocean. Their gateway to the rest of the world, the ocean is also the leading provider of food resources for these fishing populations, as well as for the rest of the world, where the consumption of halieutic resources is growing.

However, due to climate change, this proximity and dependence on the ocean doesn’t only offer advantages. At the launching conference of the Ocean Pathway Partnership on November 16, 2017, Isabella Lövin, Swedish Minister for International Development Cooperation and Climate, recalled that the ocean has been so far "our best friend" through its indispensable role in mitigating global warming, particularly thanks to its role as a carbon sink, which is already strongly weakened. The pressures on the climate machine driven by the oceans lead to extreme weather events such as the recent Hurricane Maria, which caused a "virtual destruction" of Dominica, costing this small island in the French West Indies "200% of its GDP", according to Patricia Scotland, Secretary General of the Commonwealth and born in Dominica.Floods related to the extreme weather events previously mentioned, also make life difficult at the heart of these "large ocean states" (Maina Sage, French Polynesian MP) where access to clean water is compromised and the quality of soils used to feed their inhabitants is eroded. On the other hand, rising sea levels are already driving thousands of people to leave their homes for shelter. For example, the Fijian government, for its part, has already identified 80 villages to be relocated to higher ground and therefore less exposed to the risk of flooding.

A multitude of island states are facing the same issues, leading the international community to actively reflect on the establishment of a status of "climate/environmental refugee".​Determined to make COP23 stakeholders aware of the absolute necessity to do their utmost to limit the temperature rise to 1.5 ° C for the survival of island states, dozens of Fijians and other representatives of the Pacific Islands undertook a long journey to be in Bonn from 6th to 17th November 2017.

Copyright : Justine Guiny

After a total of 20 hours of flight, Taina Daunivalu, a native of Fiji, has lost none of the warmth that reigns on this archipelago of more than 300 islands, and shares, with a radiant smile, her experience at COP23 and her everyday life facing up to the consequences of climate change.